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The Weser Uplands (
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
: ''Weserbergland'', ) is a hill region in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, between Hannoversch Münden and
Porta Westfalica Porta Westfalica () is a town in the district of Minden-Lübbecke, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name "''Porta Westfalica''" is Latin and means "gate to Westphalia". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of West ...
, along the river
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...
. The area reaches into three states,
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
,
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
, and
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
. Important towns of this region include
Bad Karlshafen Bad Karlshafen () is a baroque, thermal salt spa town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It has 2300 inhabitants in the main ward of Bad Karlshafen, and a further 1900 in the medieval village of Helmarshausen. It is situated at the co ...
,
Holzminden Holzminden (; nds, Holtsminne) is a town in southern Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Holzminden. It is located on the river Weser, which at this point forms the border with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Histor ...
,
Höxter Höxter () is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel in the centre of the Weser Uplands. The main town's population is around 15,000, and with outlying centres, about 30,0 ...
,
Bodenwerder The ''Münchhausenstadt'' Bodenwerder is a municipality in Holzminden district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It lies on the river Weser and is best known as the birthplace and residence of Baron von Münchhausen. Geography Bodenwerder is located in ...
,
Hameln Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hi ...
,
Rinteln Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river above the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In rela ...
, and
Vlotho Vlotho () is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Vlotho is located along the Weser river, south of the Wiehengebirge, bordering on the Ravensberger Hügelland in the west, Lipperland in the south, an ...
. The tales of the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
are set in the Weser Uplands, and it has many
renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
buildings, exhibiting a peculiar regional style, the
Weser Renaissance Weser Renaissance is a form of Northern Renaissance architectural style that is found in the area around the River Weser in central Germany and which has been well preserved in the towns and cities of the region. Background Between the star ...
style. The region roughly coincides with the
natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecology, ecological point of view, the naturally occurring fl ...
of the
Lower Saxon Hills The Lower Saxon Hills (german: Niedersächsisches Bergland) are one of the 73 natural regions in Germany defined by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). Geographically it covers roughly the same area as the Weser Uplands (german: Weserb ...
defined by the
Federal Agency for Nature Conservation The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (german: Bundesamt für Naturschutz, ''BfN'') is the German government's scientific authority with responsibility for national and international nature conservation. BfN is one of the government's ...
(BfN).


Geography

In addition to the whole of the Weser Valley between Hann. Münden und Porta Westfalica, several geologically associated, but clearly separate chains of uplands, ridges and individual hills are considered part of the Weser Uplands. In its narrowest sense, the following would be included (running from north to south): The largest contiguous area of forest in the Weser Uplands lies on the Solling in the Solling-Vogler Nature Park. Its woods stretch southwards as far as the Reinardswald (on left bank of the Weser) and Bramwald (right bank), interrupted only by the island-like Uslar Basin and the narrow Weser valley. Even on the far side of the rivers Fulda and Werra - and thus beyond the Weser Uplands - the dense forest continues further south without significant interruption to the
Kaufungen Forest The Kaufungen Forest (german: Kaufunger Wald) is a range of steep, wooded hills straddling the border between the states of Hesse and Lower Saxony in central Germany. It takes its name from the town Kaufungen. The hills lie in the fork of the Rive ...
.


Notable ridges

In addition to the aforementioned core ridges, other ranges and ridges are also sometimes considered part of the Weser Uplands. These mainly include the following (with maximum elevations given in metres above sea level (NN): The last major changes to the landscape were made during the course of the
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
s by the
glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
advances of the
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n ice sheet which gave rise to much of Germany's present-day
Northern Lowland The North German Plain or Northern Lowland (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland) is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Balti ...
.


Important towns


Culture

The Weser Uplands once developed its own style of architecture. Between 1520 and 1640 a great number of buildings were built in the so-called
Weser Renaissance Weser Renaissance is a form of Northern Renaissance architectural style that is found in the area around the River Weser in central Germany and which has been well preserved in the towns and cities of the region. Background Between the star ...
style. Characters from the area who have achieved international renown include the legendary
Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...
, the ''Lying Baron'',
Baron Munchausen Baron Munchausen (; ) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book '' Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia''. The character is loosely based on a real ...
, whose real-life inspiration came from
Bodenwerder The ''Münchhausenstadt'' Bodenwerder is a municipality in Holzminden district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It lies on the river Weser and is best known as the birthplace and residence of Baron von Münchhausen. Geography Bodenwerder is located in ...
, and Doctor Eisenbarth who died in
Hann. Münden Hann. Münden (short for Hannoversch Münden) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. Münden lies in the district of Göttingen (district), Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda River, Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form the Weser. It ha ...
. In addition, many
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...
s by the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
were set in the region, for example,
Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...
, which is supposed to have taken place in Alfeld,
Rapunzel "Rapunzel" ( , ) is a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm and first published in 1812 as part of ''Children's and Household Tales'' (KHM 12). The Brothers Grimm's story developed from the French literary fairy tale of ''Persinette ...
, who let down her long hair for her prince from a tower at Trendelburg Castle, or
Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...
, whose castle was based on the now ruined
Sababurg The Sababurg, first called the Zappenburg, then Zapfenburg and today, after the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Sleeping Beauty Castle (german: Dornröschenschloss), is the ruin of a hill castle in the legendary Reinhardswald, a forested upland th ...
near
Hofgeismar Hofgeismar () is a town in the Kassel (district), district of Kassel, in northern Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km north of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. In 1978 and in 2015, the town hosted the 18th ''Hessentag'' state festival. ...
.


Artistic reception

The picturesque landscape of the Weser Uplands has inspired many landscape painters and artists: Jacob Pins (1917–2005), Robert Batty, Christian Andreas Besemann,
Carl Ferdinand Fabritius Carl Ferdinand Fabritius (1637 – 21 January 1673) was a painter in the Bishopric of Paderborn (German: ''Fürstbistum Paderborn''). Paderborn prince-bishop (German: ''Fürstbischof'') Ferdinand of Fürstenberg commissioned Fabritius ...
, Robert Geißler, Wolfgang Heinrich, Karl Arthur Held, Alfred Hesse, Rudolf Jahns, Herbert Mager, Anton Wilhelm Strack (1758–1829), Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch and August Wenderoth.


Tourism

The more significant tourist destinations in the region, in addition to the historic towns mentioned above are the
Weser Uplands Schaumburg-Hamelin Nature Park The Weser Uplands-Schaumburg-Hamelin Nature Park (german: Naturpark Weserbergland Schaumburg-Hameln) lies on the northern edge of the German Central Uplands where it transitions to the North German Plain, about southwest of Hanover. The sponsor of ...
, the Solling-Vogler Nature Park, the roughly 500 kilometre long distance cycle path, the '' Weser Cycleway'' along the River Weser. A botanic feature are the rare
Dwarf Beech The dwarf beech, ''Fagus sylvatica'' Tortuosa Group, is a rare cultivar group of the European Beech with fewer than 1500 older specimens in Europe. It is also known as twisted beech or parasol beech. It is a wide-spreading tree with distinctive ...
trees (''Süntelbuchen''). Of increasing importance is motorcycle tourism. The Weser Uplands, like the
Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
, is a popular motorcycle destination in northern Germany. In particular, the
Köterberg The Köterberg, at above sea level, is the highest hill in the Lippe Uplands and lies on the state border between North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in North Germany. On its northern slopes is the village of Köterberg. Geography The K ...
, as the highest elevation from that point to the North Sea, is a popular motorcycle meeting point with a magnificent panoramic view up to 80 kilometres. Other notable attractions are the Schillat Cave, the Tonenburg in Höxter-Albaxen, the Neuhaus Wildlife Park, the Weserstein in
Hann. Münden Hann. Münden (short for Hannoversch Münden) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. Münden lies in the district of Göttingen (district), Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda River, Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form the Weser. It ha ...
and several museums such as the Agricultural Technology Museum in
Börry Emmerthal is a municipality in the Hameln-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Weser, approximatively 6 km south of Hameln. Its seat is in the village Kirchohsen. In 1973, the Emmerthal was formed by mergi ...
, the
hammer mill A hammer mill, hammer forge or hammer works was a workshop in the pre-industrial era that was typically used to manufacture semi-finished, wrought iron products or, sometimes, finished agricultural or mining tools, or military weapons. The featur ...
in Dassel, The German Huguenot Museum in
Bad Karlshafen Bad Karlshafen () is a baroque, thermal salt spa town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It has 2300 inhabitants in the main ward of Bad Karlshafen, and a further 1900 in the medieval village of Helmarshausen. It is situated at the co ...
and the Motorcycle Museum in Wickensen.


Economy

The region is heavily influenced by tourism. Large areas are also utilized by
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
and firms involved in processing the products of these industries, such as
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s. A porcelain factory in
Fürstenberg Fürstenberg (also Fuerstenberg and Furstenberg) may refer to: Historical states * Fürstenberg-Baar, county (1441–1559) * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county (1559–1614) * Fürstenberg-Donaueschingen, county (1617–1698) * Fürstenberg-Fürsten ...
has been working since 1747.


References

{{Authority control Hill ranges of Germany Hill ranges of Lower Saxony Landforms of North Rhine-Westphalia Landforms of Hesse Regions of North Rhine-Westphalia Regions of Hesse Regions of Lower Saxony